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New Zealand 1826-1827: From the French of Dumont D'Urville

From the Diary of M. Gaimard

page 208

From the Diary of M. Gaimard

21st January—Although we were anchored not far from the Bay of Murderers, where Tasman lost several of his companions, our dealings with the Zealanders of Tasman Bay were very frequent and always friendly. We showed every confidence in them; and what is always very gratifying, we had no cause to regret it. As Messrs. de Sainson and Faraguet accepted the suggestion I made to them to go and spend the night with the big tribe that was living for the moment on Astrolabe Bight, we landed unarmed at seven o'clock in the evening of the 20th of January. It meant putting ourselves in their power, but also having an opportunity to study them. It is true that a few of them had stayed on our ship. They gave us an extremely friendly but noisy welcome, shouting vociferously, throwing themselves in contortions, performing dances and battle songs, several of which were really ferocious. We responded with some of our fine patriotic songs which they applauded vigorously. Les Enfants de France [Sons of France] and Le Choeur des Chasseurs de Robin des Bois [The Hunting Song of Robin of the Forest] also called forth their approval in no uncertain manner.

We were soon the best of friends and a few gifts offered to the leaders of the canoes and to the maidens caused a marked increase in the general satisfaction. We slept on the beach in their midst, near a big fire that they were careful to keep up almost throughout the night. They gave us a fair number of words from their vocabulary; and the next morning we left our hosts, very pleased with the hospitality they had shown us.

On this occasion we were able to realize what a passion these men, women, and children have for dancing and singing. If occasionally some of them do not take any active part, one always sees how the sight moves them and how they follow with a keen eye the different movements of the performers. A cloak made from New Zealand flax constitutes their usual costume. Hair reddened with ochre, often tied behind and adorned with a few black feathers, is their ceremonial headdress. Their arms are, as a rule, clubs of very hard wood, in which human teeth are embedded. They also have very fine green jade axes, which are of inestimable value in their eyes because of the scarcity of the stone and its extreme hardness. They had no knowledge of the bow or of arrows, and so far they have not received the sinister gift of firearms. Their commonest food is the root of the tree fern [bracken], to which must page 209be added fish and sweet potatoes. Their huts, roughly constructed with branches of trees, are scarcely three or four feet high.

The chief birds that we have found during our stay in Astrolabe Bight are the following: The orange wattled crow, … the black oyster catcher, the pied oyster catcher, and the small penguin, as well as several new species—the morepork, the south island thrush, the grey warbler, the tit, the rifleman, the fernbird, and the yellowhead. The molluscs, which were more numerous, were painted while still alive by M. Quoy….